Hobo with a Shotgun (2011)

Where do I start.  If your into comic book violence, bad character development, and just plain blood and gore this is your film.  For me it is not, and I can't recommend this film at all.  The film is suppose to be a send up on the 80's exploitation films, but it NEVER does it for me, and in truth I walked out on the film.  There are few films I walk out of and this was one of them.  No I did not get squeamish because of the blood, and violence.  I left because because it was not worth my time, and a total waste .

Now I would like to just end this review here now, but I can't.  I like to write about why did or didn't I like a film, so in as brief possiable as I can be I will try and do so.

Hobo with a shotgun stars Rutger Hauer as the Hobo, and I really can't see why they used him.  I love Hauer in "LadyHawk", The Hitcher, and even "Blade Runner", so for the life of me I don't know why they use him the way they use him in this film.  I don't think the filmmakers knew how to use Hauer effectively, Hauer is an actor of high caliber, and he could have been used to such a good effect that it stuns me to see such a good actor under utilized. 

A little history is due here for clarification of how this film came about.  The filmmaker entered a contest to supply the film "Grindhouse" with a trailer of an up coming film that doesn't exist.  The trailer was included in the movie.  The trailer stared all unknowns, and was very good for what it was.  It felt like a throwback to those yester-year exploitation films.  Fast forward to the future, and it seems someone gave the creator money to come up with the film they made as a trailer first.  Only thing is that they should have stuck to the trailer.  Casting Hauer was interesting.  After all Hauer is a good actor, and I really think he could have done great with the film, but the movie that was actually made contains nothing for Hauer to do.  It does not use Hauer to his full potential because there is no decent plot for him to work with.

Of course the story is ridiculous, and revolting at times.  People have compared it to the 1980's exploitation films, but I disagree whole heatedly.  Those movies used reality to their advantage, and did not go over the top like this film does.  I'm a fan of those movies, and this film falls far short of those films it tries to emulate. 

In my opinion the films creator has watched too many Troma films, and is trying to re-create them.  The violence is gross, and does not serve the film at all.  The actors performances are all over the top, and the dialogue they sprout is terrible.  I am convinced that the filmmakers did not know what they were doing or how to make a good film of that genre.  If you take a look at the earlier trailer for the film you would think that the filmmaker knew his genre, but apparently not, and it shows big time.

Don't waste your time on this trash.  Everything about it is a waste.  If you want to see the film they should have been made see the original trailer.  Run away from this film.  The faster you do the better off you'll be.